Inside editorial: There is no racism in football
Before anybody starts throwing stones, let me clarify: there is no racism in English football only. But there is racism in England as a whole.
Vasco fans run riot as police arrest 100, while Mums lay down the law at Recife
February 23 – Brazilian football, still rocked by endemic fan violence despite last year’s rhetoric about a World Cup legacy, suffered more of the same on Sunday when police arrested more than 100 fans before the Vasco da Gama-Fluminense match.
Kenyan FA goes to court to kill off the Kenyan Premier League
By Mark Baber
February 23 – Sam Nyamweya (pictured), head of the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) has taken his battle against the Kenyan Premier League (KPL) to a new level, reportedly obtaining an injunction from a civil court in an attempt to stop the KPL from kicking off. Nyamweya’s move has raised eyebrows, not least due to his own previously expressed stance with regard to recourse to the courts in football matters.
CSKA and Levski threaten to pull out in bid for more TV money
By Alexander Krassimirov
February 23 – A serious row is brewing in the Bulgarian A group over the distribution of TV rights money with two of the country’s biggest clubs – CSKA Sofia and Levski – threatening to boycott the league unless they receive the lion’s share of the TV cash.
Jordan summit switches dates in bid to gather world’s football leaders
By Andrew Warshaw
February 23 – Organisers of Asia’s main football forum in Jordan have set a new date for the spring summit, pushing it back to within three weeks of the FIFA presidential election and therefore generating considerably more interest.
Parma’s €16m debt crisis worsens as Serie A call league game off
February 23 – Italian Serie A club Parma, twice former winners of the old UEFA Cup, took the dramatic step of calling off Sunday’s league game against Udinese on safety grounds as the division’s bottom club edged closer towards the financial abyss.
Inside Editorial: Different strokes for different folks?
In October 2013, the Daily Telegraph wrote this headline and leader:
“Madcap proposals by Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini to increase World Cup finalists to 40 just do not add up – Sport’s top men claim that world Cup finals should be open to more nations but it is just another political football being kicked about by the hierarchy”
The paper continued to say:
“Under the madcap World Cup expansion plans dreamed up by Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini,
Spurs win in court paves way to new £400m stadium in 2018
February 20 – A private family business standing in the way of Tottenham Hotspur’s plans to build a new £400 million state-of-the-art stadium has lost its court challenge against a compulsory purchase order to force it out.
Andrew Warshaw: Turning over the Figo leaf
He can certainly talk a good game – in three languages in fact. And if prizes were given for glossy manifestos he would already have the keys to Sepp Blatter’s private office in Zurich.
Tunisia joins Morocco at CAS to get CAF sanctions over-turned
February 20 – The Tunisian Football Federation (FTF) has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the sanctions imposed by African Football Confederation (CAF) after their dramatic and emotional exit from the Africa Cup of Nations last month. The country faces exclusion from the 2017 championships unless it complies to CAF’s demands.
IFA set September date for second digital talkshop in Berlin
February 20 – The International Football Arena (IFA) have set September 10 as the date for their second Berlin conference, following on from the success of last year’s inaugural trip to Berlin for the Zurich-based talk shop.
Kenyan power struggle leaves league chaos as teams scramble towards kick-off
By Mark Baber
February 20 – The failure of Kenya’s Premier League (KPL) and Football Federation (FKF) to come to an agreement has left football in the country in, with rival leagues set to kick off this weekend. One league is backed by the KPL and the other by the FKF, although no one is quite sure which clubs will be in which league and whether or not the Kenyan government and/or FIFA will intervene to try and restore order –
Young Celtic fan wins SPL Goal of the Month award with 97% of vote
By Jamie Styles
February 20 – Last week Jay Beatty, a young Celtic super-fan with Down’s Syndrome, was nominated in Scotland’s SPL Goal of the Month competition. Today the league announced that Jay had won the award with a landslide victory, receiving a massive 97% of the votes.
Vasco Da Gama line up sponsors for start of Brasileiro
By Samindra Kunti
February 20 – Brazilian club Vasco Da Gama will renew its major sponsorship deals with Guaracamp and Caixa. The news is a boost for the Rio club ahead of its return to the Brazilian top-flight.
Europe’s football racism comes from the top of the game, says Powar
February 20 – One of Europe’s leading anti-racism chiefs believes the episode involving Chelsea supporters blocking a black man from boarding a Paris Metro train is part of a wider problem of racism in football despite stringent efforts to cut it out.